DLM 21

Die LEERE MITTE

Random Access Journal

BERLIN

Issue n.21 7 05/2024
9.0°C 7 52.4802743 7 13.5441468

#include <stdio.h>
int main()

t
printf(“Hello, Berlin!”’);
return 0;

Dir LEERE MITTE
Guidelines

Broadly accepted: Experimental and conceptual writing, theo-
retical papers, asemic and concrete texts, vispo, theorems, axiom
collection, quantum weirdness, reviews of books addressing these
topics and the like.

Texts: poetry (60 lines max. overall); prose (500-600 words max.
overall). Format: Times New Roman 12; single line spacing; all in
one .doc or .odt file. Languages: Catalan, Croatian, English, French,
German, Italian, Russian, Spanish.

Visual: 1-3 B&W images. Format: jpg, tiff, png, 72-300 DPI.

Simultaneous submissions are welcome, provided that the piece 1s
withdrawn if accepted elsewhere, as well as previously published
works when properly credited. Each issue will be free to download
(.pdf). A printed version will be made available through KDP/lulu
for collectors. No reading fee; no payment or copies to contributors
at present. Authors assume responsibility for the originality, intel-
lectual property rights and ethical implications of submitted works.

submissions: leeremittemag@gmail.com

home: https://leserpent.wordpress.com/category/dlm/
twitter: @LeereMitte

Edited in Berlin by Horst Berger and Federico Federici.
ISBN 9798324057329

cover art: Ohne Titel, Werner Preu8

CONTENTS

Patrick Sweeney
short forms, p.7
Nam ‘Tran
Arachno Permutation, p.10
Joshua Martin
fwe poems, p.11
D. Seth Horton
To Wnite the Wrongs: An Author's Note, p.16
Border [Patrol] Assemblage, p.18
Nathan Anderson
Three poems, p.28
Dominik Slusarczyk
Bigger, p.31
R.C. Thomas
haibun, p.33
Harald Kappel
Trilogie des Athylismus, p.35
John M. Bennett
five poems, p.38
Charles March
Quash, p.43
Annalise Kristensen
Novos Visual Poetry, p.47

Patrick Sweeney - short forms

he left us an Act of Contrition

a salute from a cardboard box

sharing a beer with a Dollar Store cactus

Taps for another subordinate asset

mourners secretly watching Edgar Bergen's lips

green noumenon...forest overtaking wallpaper palms

hairpin of jade... sheltering

keeping Asimov's candy store hours

pine barrens:
clavicles of bootleggers
leeching whiskey

that's little sister
smashing all her
ballerinas

cocooned-thunder
the nerve shot
beginning to take

chewing on tv-dinner gristle...
our secret slant
of yellow kitchen light

the boy who left the cricket cage door open

giving
his undivided attention
was penological

some nights _
no matter which way he turned
he was at McKenna's funeral

the neighbor who bends to touch the dew

planet's having more than a hissy-fit, he instructed the dissembler

mid-day ecstatic visions at residential plumbing

she shuddered with the sufferers
and quieted the sirens
with a sign of the cross

even at the movies, the thought that Tarzan will step on a thorn

Nam ‘Tran : Arachno Permutation

‘Tarantula
‘Tamarchedtula
‘Tawalkedtula
‘Tacrawledtula
Tatiptoedtula
Tajumpedtula
Talepttula
Tahoppedtula
‘Taskippedtula
Tadivedtula
Tajoggedtula
Tarolledtula
Taslidtula
‘Tacartwheeledtula
‘Tadancedtula
‘Tacrouchedtula
‘Tadashedtula
Taboltedtula
‘Tasprintedtula
‘Tabouncedtula
‘Taclimbedtula
‘Tapushedtula
‘Tastaggeredtula
‘Tadartedtula
‘Tascurriedtula
‘Tacatapultedtula
‘Tadraggedtula
‘Talimpedtula
‘Tascamperedtula
‘Taswayedtula
‘Taambledtula
Talopedtula
Tastruttedtula
‘Taspuntula
‘Taswamtula
Tafelltula
‘Tacrashedtula

10

Joshua Martin - five poems

Disguised [famous & wearied], an above angle

limp whispers fReeZe ,,,,

hold Up ===== fork mimic
buffalo Hide ‘ngo SEEK _ [bawdy container]
=| wearied cosmic dancers | = | wallow cheesy smashing] ;;;

once / wandering / fulfillment centrifuge gown /////
doctor & schemer & rumbling coach attendant
miserably poking regenerative yAWN
[sMoKe], , , (w)(a)(D()(o)(w) = ===
{orange diagnosed perchance} | merry golden sardine fumes
|
wash whoosh abandoned yielded
mOtHs =/=/= forcefield
of tropical
curling
>.

1]

UN[avail]able SpOOfs

spruce | obtuse | moose JaR
lock=ing , , craven seedling errand ,, , rUn

Chop NoT poisoned dArT
gOO = \ [spiral INSERT
muddled storm[ing] hit
parade], | red callused BoRiNg |,,

representative busted graphite bowling shaNkS /////

memorial backsplash

COURSE; | determined | ; | left, like
milked ghostly pools | textures of

abscess & florid shells

12

March / Seek, Toll Free Booth

>>> > > traipse kettle fishery
, ahose by AnY other lobby =
horse training skedaddle <<<<<

] optional TraininG wHeeLs [ (((b)))
(((e)))(((a)) ((T))) 1/7

acTioN sTrIvEs pUIsE
| wing (envy) pausing set-ups purse | - - - all of
friday boiling down spendthrift mutant

ls:

the lounge Maximum fleeing

larynx daredevil kite
: ‘Which spun magical grief pancakes

elastic [buoy] = knife INTO heart stone

| phone a fiend|,,, , , deliver decoy zoo | [toddler
braces beaver dam] | ;
holiday gorge requests
\ unpublishable kitten doddle /
jwatch BuRsTs envious geyser!
, field of drawn stick figure weeds ,
drowned facelift spinning basket

14

See-Saw Belt Buckle

, the deck
a wimpy workshop calendar
[must a cavalier lucidity] - - -
notorious injuries
storming deafblind
all gloried chapels : : : : futuristic squirting
non-athletic rotundity
:111: soggy fortnight
, a wallop , blurting / tuned / robust tablature
, , intellectualized truthful zebras
[striped memo balm]
(CCD) ICO) )MCCCCN)))

(((C)))) (((((T))))), graph touchscreen
stroking fun & beaten egg

15

D. Seth Horton - To Write the Wrongs: An Author's Note

When I was writing my experimental collection of stories set
throughout the U.S.-México borderlands entitled, On a NASA Ihght to
Heaven (forthcoming this fall from ‘TCU Press), I had to routinely cross
and recrossed the border. With rare exception, the U.S. Border Patrol
agents who interrogated me seemed power-hungry, tired, rigid, dead-
ened, unnecessarily aggressive, and worse, sometimes all the above. In-
evitably, ’d get pissed off at some point during the whole question and
answer performance of the interaction, which seemed about as predict-
able as it was pointless. Yes, ’m an American citizen. No, P’m not telling you
what I was doing in Mexico. Because it’s none of your business.

Occasionally, though, there was little enmity between a given
agent and myself; instead, the encounters were lifeless and hollow, and
afterwards I ended up feeling overwhelmed by an existential loneliness
that even had me pondering suicide once or twice. If this was my reac-
tion from such relatively brief interactions, how must the Border Patrol
agents feel after asking the same boring questions over and over again,
day after day, year after mind-numbing year? After all, we can only as-
sume they were people too, even if their humanity was hidden behind a
badge and the bullshit of a civil service assignment. More importantly,
how might similar experiences affect other civilians who found them-
selves needing to cross the border, and was there any way we might col-
lectively work to reimagine the deadly militarization of what was now
becoming a hyperreal place?

My new manuscript, Border [Patrol] Assemblage, which includes
the eight image-texts below, is my attempt to work through these ques-
tions and write at least a few of the wrongs.

Here are some of the specifics. I first began by pouring through
the US. Customs and Border Protection website (https://www.cbp.
gov). Initially, I simply read through all the tedious webpages, docu-
ments, files, and reports housed on the site. Soon, however, I noticed
hidden qualities in the language: the strange juxtaposition of certain
images here, the poetry of a compound gerund there. Not to mention
how impish I felt when discovering the occasional typo or grammati-

16

cal mistake in a text that was supposed to be an official account. Like
a verbal archaeologist, I started to dig through the dregs of mostly bad
writing in search of buried treasure, and in the process, I happened to
uncover something.. .let’s call it poetry.

In terms of composition, I deleted most of the original mate-
rial until I was left with the literature that had previously been hidden
within the bureaucratese. ‘To be clear, I added no words, punctuation,
or capital letters to the body of these texts, nor did I change the original
word order in any way. Instead, I simply erased what was in the way
and then moved the words that remained into appropriate line breaks.

Once the poems were composed, I scoured the National Ar-
chives for appropriate images and then manipulated them using vari-
ous visual effects and cropping techniques so that they would strength-
en, elucidate, complicate, and even contradict “my” written text. For
those eccentric individuals interested in comparing the results against
the original source material,

I have included notes at the end with all the necessary details.

17

D. Seth Horton - Border [Patrol] Assemblage

Directive No. 2310-008A

The actual language of foreign-made words, terms or descriptions, bear marks of criminal

counterfeiting.

18

Directive No. 2310-011A

According to the statute, any person arriving in the United States
authorizes the Secretary of Treasury to carry out the person for sale.

1g

Directive No. 3220-004

As of April

the country

should reflect

grace ona

case by case

basis.

An audit

should be
undertaken
annually to

ensure compliance

20

Directive No. 3230-037B

Premature withdrawal

or release
, may be
discharged
4 without intent
j
i
|
|
4
t In that case,
the filling
|
] or overfilling

should cover

the Director.

21

22

Directors

are responsible
for ensuring that
the personnel
within

Directive No. 3230-040A

23

their jurisdiction
are liquidated
after 14 days.

Directive No. 3240-034A

To establish consistency and uniformity

at the party,

the presence of a Customs officer is required.

24

the final

essential

ensure

that

shall

accordingly

29

Directive No. 3550-071

followed

all
regulations

be

to

Notes

Page 1(source text): U.S. Customs and Border Protection website. "Customs Directive No. 2310-
008A: Trademark and Tradename Protection.”
https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2310-008a_3.pdf.

Page 1 (image): “Letter of Marque.” National Archives Identifier: 39054132.
https://catalog.archives.gov/id/39054132.

Page 2 (source text): U.S. Customs and Border Protection website. "Customs Directive No. 2310-
011A: Personal Use Exemption: Unauthorized Trademarks.”
https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/assets/documents/2020-Feb/2310-11a_3.pdf.

Page 2 (images): The top and middle images come from “Fresh Caught Crabs for Sale at Bayou
Gouche.” National Archives Identifier: 544209. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/544209. The
“Uncle Sam” image on the bottom right comes from "| Want You For The U.S. Army Enlist Now."
National Archives Identifier: 513533. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/513533.

Page 3 (source text): U.S. Customs and Border Protection website. "Customs Directive No. 3220-
004: Manifesting of International Mail by Air Carriers."
https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/documents/3220-004_3.pdf.

Pages 3 (images): “[Assignment: 48-DPA-08-12-08_SOI_K_AZ_Border_Pat] Visit of Secretary
Dirk Kempthorne to [Pima County,] Arizona's Border Area with Mexico, [Where He Joined] U.S.
Customs and Border Protection Personnel for Meetings, Tours, [Flights, Inspections] [48-DPA-
08-12-08_SOI_K_AZ_Border_Pat_lOD_2693.JPG].” National Archives Identifier: 7934435.
https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7934435.

Page 4 (source text): U.S. Customs and Border Protection website. "Customs Directive No.
3230-037B: Quota-Class Merchandise: Processing and Reporting."
https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/documents/3230-37b_3.pdf.

Page 4 (images): “[Assignment: 48-DPA-08-12-08_SOI_K_AZ_Border_Pat] Visit of Secretary Dirk
Kempthorne to [Pima County,] Arizona's Border Area with Mexico, [Where He Joined] U.S.
Customs and Border Protection Personnel for Meetings, Tours, [Flights, Inspections] [48-DPA-
08-12-08_SOI_K_AZ_Border_Pat_lOD_2512.JPG].” National Archives Identifier: 7934334.
https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7934334.

Page 5 (source text): U.S. Customs and Border Protection website. "Customs Directive No. 3230-
039A: Quota and Temporary Importation Under Bond (TIB)."
https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/documents/3230-039a_3.pdf.

Pages 5 (image): “Memorial to Father Kino, the 1* Missionary to the Southwest.” National
Archives Identifier: 544076. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/544076.

26

Page 6 (source text): U.S. Customs and Border Protection website. "Customs Directive No. 3230-
040A: Quota and Electronic Payments (ACH)."
https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/documents/3230-040a_3.pdf.

Pages 6 (image): "Government Pack Mules and Packers." National Archives Identifier: 530929.
https://catalog.archives.gov/id/530929.

Page 7 (source text): U.S. Customs and Border Protection website. "Customs Directive No. 3240-
034A: In-Bond Time Limits for Exportation."
https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/documents/3240-034a_3.pdf.

Pages 7 (image): Untitled. US Border Patrol Academy Facebook post on January 14, 2001.
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=216003113474358&set=pb.100064633661502.-
2207520000.

Page 8 (source text): U.S. Customs and Border Protection website. "Customs Directive No. 3550-
071: 'Change' and 'No Change' Liquidation Notations."
https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/assets/documents/2017-Nov/3550-071.pdf.

Page 8 (images): The top right image is from “A Soldier Wearing Mission-Oriented Protective
Posture Response Level 4 (MOPP-4) Gear, Including an M-17A1 Mask, and a M-16A11 Rifle.”
National Archives Identifier: 6446899. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/6446899. The bottom
left image is from “This Weird Figure Is a Chemical Warfare Man Carrying Two Sulphur Trioxide
Smoke Bombs.” National Archives Identifier: 204947726.
https://catalog.archives.gov/id/204947726.

10

27

Nathan Anderson - Three poems

Capital refraction longlist

Tep
id
STRUCK DOWN
Masi
mmm gin
Rea: tetas
A
Ss
K
#
#
#
shattered as
the door left
swinging
eAREeYOUeNOTe
eLIABLEe?
eAREeYOUeNOTe
eREQUESTEDe?
yes (and)
yes/no

28

Friday [offer] Milkman

gnostic

in this

the break

the##mechanised##reaction##toi#
#the#shattered##form#oftitat
#sound##so##solemn##and##in#
#nothin g##HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHE

AS SIMPLE AS THE
1
1
1
1
1
1
but not
this
dada
shesectteteaed thread
AAA
and
so
it
goes
again

29

Sequestered Invocation

ha ===hip
ha
ha..

last

i heard

he 'had'
CONCLUDED!

. (and)
around<<<<<<<it<<<<<goes<<<

>>>>>>>>>>>>>again

{X} is a style and a satire

{X} is a sound and a salute
{X} is a mouse and a meal
{X} is everything they tell you
{X} is

{X} is

{X} is

= isn'tit

30

Dominik Slusarczyk - Bigger
I

You try to drag the bag out of my grip. I tug it backwards
towards me, but I use far too much force. I am sent toppling over
backwards. I hit the ground hard. You laugh at me. It is a boom-
ing laugh with your hands on your hips and your elbows sticking
out to the side. You walk over and pick up the bag that has fallen
next to me. I close my eyes, resigned to my fate, thinking about
how I am going to go hungry all day because I won’t be able to
afford lunch now.

You take every penny out of my bag then you chuck the
bag on top of me. I watch you walk back to your friends, all of
whom are far bigger than me. They are snickering behind their
hands. You show them the money you took off me. One of your
friends pats you on the back. You turn, do a rude gesture at me
with the hand not clutching my money, then you and your friends
walk away.

My dad says I have to stand up to people like you. He says
I have to stop you taking my stuff. He says I have to be strong.

II

I shove the bar high above my head. I am lying down on
my back. My legs are too long so they hang over the end of the
bench. There are so many weights on the bar people keep giving
me weird looks. They probably think I am going to hurt myself.
Pll be fine - I have lifted almost this much weight on numerous
separate occasions. I know I can do it.

I do three reps then I put the bar back on the stand. I do
not use a spotter. I do not need a spotter. I can do it on my own;
I don’t need help. All other people do is get in the way.

I sit up on the bench. I curl my right arm to check out the
muscles. They are bulging and beautiful. Getting them was not
easy. ’ve had to work hard for years.

It was worth it. Nobody would dare steal off me anymore.
Nobody could steal off me. Nobody could push me around.

oil

Il

I tell him that he has to stand up for himself. I tell him he
shouldn’t let people push him around. He says they are bigger
than him. I tell him that there is a way that he could become big-
ger than them.

I will show him the weights. I will teach him how to work
out. I will spot for him until he can do it without a spotter. He
will get big, maybe as big as me. Nobody would dare push him
around then. When he is big he will be the one pushing other
people around.

He tips up the box of his favourite cereal and a little toy
falls out. I am a little shocked: I thought they’d stopped putting
toys in cereal years ago.

32

R.C. Thomas - haibun
I Dreamed the Universe: 24th September 2022

I dreamed the Universe rode a bike along a wet, stony midnight
path. Its legs were tired, so it made the most of its downhill trajec-
tory, easing off the pedals and steadying the breaks as it wobbled
between lumps of gravel and the slippery rounds of rocks.

The sea was still. It sat silently below the embanked edge of the
path, raised over the top of the water, making a gradual curve
to the right. The Universe, on its way to get its bike fixed, glided
across along. The pale moon followed, pushing its way between
pastel blue and grey clouds. ‘The bike perhaps needed new inner
tubes. Perhaps a new chain. Perhaps it needed taking apart and
putting back together again or, perhaps, it was in working order
as it was.

I followed the Universe for all of the eight miles, hovering in the
air from a distance. Once at the bike shop, I watched from a
damp, sticky corner as the Universe told two galaxies that its bike
was 1n need of repair. Excuses and complaints for what was actu-
ally a good bike poured from the Universe's mouth easily. The
galaxies settled on a change of inner tubes. Not because they
needed changing, but because it was late. They wanted the Uni-
verse out of their shop and off their backs.

eects valve

earning to breathe
through the thunderstorm

on

The Universe Dreamed I: 24th September 2023

The Universe dreamed I was leading us on a cycling trip through
country lanes. I knew a gate along ite way that, once we'd ale
ed over, would land us on a secret path, tumbled with stones,
overgrown with yellow-green grass and weeds, that would lead
us to the sea. As we climbed the hilly road we shifted our gears
down, and down again, and down again. Once we'd reached lev-
el ground, we'd find the gate just around the corner.

The gates passed one by one but none of them were quite right.
Behind each lay an open field, but what I remembered was
shrouded and narrow. It was important to get to the sea this way
to relive a mix of two teenage memories. One involving a ragged
path down to a beach, the other a wild path as a shortcut to a
galaxy's birthday. I remembered the grass had reached up to my
waist. I had made careful steps, afraid my foot would be snared
in the overgrowth. And when the path finally emerged onto a
quiet lane, parallel to the busy road that I'd been aiming for, I was
relieved not to have to backtrack a mile.

Still trying to find the gate, a galaxy with an ashen beard stopped
us. It was out walking with another galaxy who was overjoyed to
see me riding a bike like I used to in my youth. I enquired about
the gate but they knew of no such thing. They told us what the
Universe and I were trying to achieve was futile. The galaxy with
the grey beard told us to eat more meat.

ageing processed flesh left in the can to sweat

34

Harald Kappel - Trilogie des Athylismus

Zaune und Wassergraben

ich bin fur sie
uber Zaune und Wassergraben gestiegen
um ihren Rauch zu atmen
ich horte ihren Herzschlag
unter den Briisten
ihr Keuchen war mein Jubel
ihre Wange war mein Trost
und ihr Schnaps
der Nachttopf eine Zumutung
die Sprache ein achzender Morast
ihr Erspartes
war notwendig
und die Klinge
die Knochen eisern
mein Kredit uberzogen
ich bin fur sie
uber Zaune und Wassergraben gestiegen

oo

mein letztes Glas

so kann es ja nicht weitergehen
mein letztes Glas
landete im Kopfsalat
ich fischte die Scherben heraus
das ist der Schrecken
mit dem wir leben mtissen
nun verbinde ich meine Zunge
und fiittere den Hund
ich glaube
ich bin ein Anarchist
starre nachts an die Decke
warte auf die Flut
das Meer kommt nicht
auch nicht die Zartlichkeit
im Hausflur
warten die leeren Flaschen
der Rausch kommt nicht
auch keine Illusion
so kann es ja nicht weitergehen
mein letztes Glas
landete im Kopfsalat

36

Horizontale

der Himmel tragt die Farben einer Margarita
ihr Salzrand ist mein Horizont
und meine Nahrung
gestern habe ich mich an der Infusion verschluckt
bin beinahe an ‘Tranen erstickt
ich sollte mal wieder lachen
uber mich
ich weiB genau
das tun schon Andere
hubsch reflektiere ich meine Regression
und frage
wann Sprachlosigkeit siegt
und meine Windeln gewechselt werden
ihr solltet mal wieder lachen
uber mich
und die Margarita
am Horizont

37

John M. Bennett - fwe poems
putrefactas mis palabras palidas
ext rioriz ant me corté la
cu rda sang ante la mur
alla espe} da con mi

m scara dr matica ado mida
» p pel p lida ago izante

atadura del tiempo

las ci trices 1 fa , cue da

en boa .mi-_ om erte” era
,» mad ra , verso. inv rso_ y
su no , hilo que me_ con...

ctaba con la v da_ fra ment da

38

the useless screeching of thought

th ught w rd_- grav |

wrod c mpaction — end’s
st rt strat frag entation
o f yr teteh slid ng
dwon mi roar

I ate the nothing left

f llen cluod sp Il , my

ne k sl mp ants’ wide

c rcles on my _ ptale my
hnad = scrab les air it

sp lls whats ys

39

bomb in my back

splendictectic f // you me
set a cave af re a ire
ins de necck my — s_oulder
bo bed aback the air
sporktic combrehension so , I
flamed below yr ice w J/

)yr gate wire _ shshivers ( (

€

streaks

light’s
hinge
the
fuse
where
ash
th
ink

40

you pearl in a sea of garbage

luncheon’s hand cut off
fingers vacant lines a
bove the rotting thumb
it’s wind or door ,
cloudy one , enter
paper’s crumpled tomb

. the flooded rooms near

under nostril’s half breath

soon the window flies
soon the forking wrath
its eaten core redolent
fries the dented lid your
hair decries the light

, an invention of the end

4]

entered the hole with epigraphy

the wh le light = det xtd
thru a t ble cl ud
qui t index f nger
writ yr m atless fog
pap r_ illuminates an

mpty h nd

or shadow collapsant gun
5 the silence eaten , fire

42

Charles March - Quash

“Zance”

Subjective
is nota good historian as

dependency

€@8yo M with history of crack
his latest period

he is unable to recall

Bec has been using mainly, heroin. He reports going on
his binge. The patient has been smoking,

‘alcohol “a few times a week"

e is unable to tell me when he first

The patient is lying H

hehas otherwise bee) i ——_

feels anxious.

43

“Love at First Swallow”

Subjective
3yo M with history of cocaine dependency since 2019 presents for a few concerns The patient was| intubated
believes:

He states that

it caused him to forget all events

cocaine usually calms down EER an ADHD patien

pins and

isunab the joint. He

aver
EBD 0010) 13105 0 AE previo

The patient also has @pbeen

EEE
2 aa

44

“Brights”

Subjective

depen eee
The patient was sober for

yo M with history of opioid
ing V methamphetamine since ag

1 usi

some time before he relapsed @8 months ago
minimal

Patient reports

WF jepression. He also reports difficulty
driving

18 police officers

oped atic

been able to col

but is more aware of it and has

45

“Hay Ride”

Subjective

B0yo Mwith history of dependency began smoking

The patient is doing v

tom aie

However, in the past month he has been cor

46

Annalise Kristensen - Novos Visual Poetry

The dust
is simply us.
The confectionary sugar

| puton top

47

48

RENACTUS

yw 2
OF
O>
0 $
ZY

SNLOVNAY
SONON

SNLOVNAY

M10 IN] ‘ : MATTER

IMIAATTT EIR , : [M1 0 N)